Patrick Dobard won approval from the state board of education Wednesday to lead the Recovery School District. The vote puts him in charge of a state agency that governs most public schools in New Orleans with a salary of $225,000 plus benefits.

John McCusker, The Times-PicayunePatrick Dobard, right, won approval Wednesday from the state board of education to lead the Recovery School District in New Orleans. He is pictured here with Gov. Bobby Jindal at Lafayette Charter School on South Carrollton Avenue.

Dobard, who worked his way up from classroom teacher to various posts at the state Department of Education, appeared with Gov. Bobby Jindal in New Orleans shortly after the board approved his appointment by a vote of nine to one, pledging "not to lower expectations" for the city's students "one bit."

Only Lottie Beebe, who won election to BESE last year from the 3rd District and has quickly established herself as an opponent of the governor's agenda, voted against Dobard's appointment.

He took over officially just as the governor began stumping for his plan to improve Louisiana schools. Jindal rehashed his proposals during a brief visit to Lafayette Academy, one of the autonomous charter schools that have opened in New Orleans under state supervision and which serve in part as a model for the approach Jindal hopes to adopt statewide.

During an afternoon press conference at the school, Jindal highlighted the flexibility that charters like Lafayette have to pay teachers based on performance, a policy the governor hopes to duplicate in the state's traditional public schools.

"At charter schools like Lafayette Academy teachers are treated like professionals," Jindal said. "They're rewarded for their quality and that's what's going to happen at every school in the state."

Dobard did not endorse any specific aspect of the governor's agenda, but he thanked Jindal for being a "true leader on reform and a strong supporter of the Recovery School District."

Dobard takes over for John White, a former New York City schools official and Teach for America leader who won the job of state superintendent last month.

He will get the same salary that White earned in the job, although his overall pay package including benefits will come to about $246,600, short of White's $281,000. White, who relocated from New York, received extra compensation for housing costs. Neither pay package compares with the $376,000 earned by Paul Vallas, who came to New Orleans after serving as superintendent in Chicago and Philadelphia.